Single-Step Epitaxy on Semiconductor Substrates

An early attempt for ordered growth of a chalcogenide simple compound has been the cathodic deposition of thin (3 p,m) CdTe films on n-type (100) GaAs single crystals from an acidic aqueous electrolyte at 95 °C, which contained Cd(II) and Te traces generated electrolytically in situ by using a pure Te anode [4]. The 

Similarly, the (111) GaAs substrate could be used to achieve epitaxial growth of zinc blende CdSe by electrodeposition from the standard acidic aqueous solution [7]. It was shown that the large lattice mismatch between CdSe and GaAs (7.4%) is accommodated mainly by interfacial dislocations and results in the formation of a high density of twins or stacking faults in the CdSe structure. Epitaxy declined rapidly on increasing the layer thickness or when the experimental parameters were not optimal. 

In fact, different techniques revealed cadmium segregation and decrease of the Pb/Se ratio near the InP/PbSe interface, indicating that during the first steps of deposition a CdSe layer is formed on InP prior to the PbSe growth. It was suggested that selective adsorption of Cd(0) on the InP surface gives rise to an epitaxial CdSe monolayer, which facilitates an ordered PbSe growth on account of the small lattice mismatch (0.7%) at the CdSe/(rock salt)PbSe interface. Importantly, it was found 

Similar to PbSe, the controlled growth of lead telluride, PbTe, on (111) InP was demonstrated from aqueous, acidic solutions of Pb(II) and Cd(II) nitrate salts and tellurite, at room temperature [13]. The poor epitaxy observed, due to the presence of polycrystalline material, was attributed to the existence of a large lattice mismatch between PbTe and InP (9%) compared to the PbSe/InP system (4.4%). The characterization techniques revealed the absence of planar defects in the PbTe structure, like stacking faults or microtwins, in contrast to II-VI chalcogenides like CdSe. This was related to electronic and structural anomalies. 

Epitaxial effects are not limited to single-crystalline substrates. The possibility for substrate-induced epitaxial development in the difficult case of ZnSe (cf. conventional electrodeposition) has been established also by using strongly textured, albeit polycrystalline, zinc blende (111) CdSe electrolytic films to sustain monolithic growth of ZnSe in typical acidic selenite baths [16]. Investigation of the structural relations in this all-electrodeposited ZnSe/CdSe bilayer revealed that more than 30-fold intensification of the (111) ZnSe XRD orientation can be obtained on the textured (111) CdSe films, compared to polycrystalline metal substrates (Fig. 4.2). The inherent problems of deposition from the Se(IV) bath, i.e., formation of 

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